Whats New:
Todays college students are more narcissistic and self-centered than their
predecessors, according to a comprehensive study being presented today by five
psychologists.

The Concern:
Researchers worry that the trend could be harmful to personal relationships
and American society. We need to stop endlessly repeating Youre
special and having children repeat that back, said the studys
lead author, Professor Jean Twenge of San Diego State University. Kids
are self-centered enough already. The study says narcissists are
more likely to have romantic relationships that are short-lived, at risk for
infidelity, lack emotional warmth, and to exhibit game-playing, dishonesty and
over-controlling and violent behaviors.

The research:
Twenge and her colleagues examined the responses of 16,475 college students
nationwide who completed an evaluation called the Narcissistic Personality Inventory
between 1982 and 2006. The inventory asks for responses to such statements as
If I ruled the world, it would be a better place, I think
I am a special person and I can live my life any way I want to.

What can be done? W.
Keith Campbell, a researcher from the University of Georgia, said that a
potential antidote would be more authoritative parenting.

Student view:
Kari Dalane, a University of Vermont sophomore, says most of her contemporaries
are politically active and not overly self-centered. People want to look
their best, have a good time, but it doesnt mean theyre not concerned
about the rest of the world.

A report of the Associated
Press which appeared in the Star Tribune on February 27, 2007, page
A7.

Response to this type
of study

The label, narcissistic,
is a negative one.
Psychologists are here attaching it to the current generation of American
college students. That is unfair.

If we - meaning teachers
- are endlessly repeating Youre special to their students
and having children repeat it back to them, it is more a reflection upon the
teachers rather than upon the students. The teachers may have good intentions.
So many children today suffer from low self-esteem because of family and other
problems that school teachers think it advisable to promote higher self-esteem
by use of the mantra, youre special, before focusing on
academics. In any event, this practice did not originate with the children.

Its mistaken to ask survey
participants to respond to statements such as If I ruled the world,
it would be a better place or I think I am a special person
and interpret affirmative responses as signs of narcissism. Should the students
have to disprove their narcissistic tendencies by declaring that putting their
ideas into effect would be bad for society or that they have no unique personal
characteristics? Most healthy people naturally think they have something special
to offer to this world.

The fact is that todays college
students are paying more for college tuitions and incurring higher levels of
personal debt than previous generations of students did; and their job prospects
are worse. By labeling todays students as narcissistic, the
well-paid college professors who conducted this survey can malign the students
before they (the professors youthful clients) are economically
abused. It is a familiar posture of the powerful wishing to absolve themselves
of guilt
to stigmatize their victims first.

I suspect that some of these professors,
especially in California, are children of the 60s who, though they displayed
narcissistic behavior in their own youth, managed to convince themselves that
they were idealists aiming for a better society. The Baby Boom generation is
quite moralistic in its denunciation of younger people whose political values
differ from its own.

Besides
better parenting, an antidote to narcissism might to for society to provide
examples of selfless leaders for young people to admire. Abraham Lincoln, in
effect, forfeited his life for his country. In contrast, the current President
is a warmonger who evaded the draft during the years of the Vietnam war, as
did the current Vice President. Instead of setting examples of unselfish service
to the country, todays political leaders are money-driven careerists who
seem to have little regard for their fellow citizens stuck in the lower ranks.

Yes, young people are naturally narcissistic.
Those tendencies are enhanced by an entertainment-driven culture that puts a
premium on wealth and good looks. If the old generation is worried that its
posterity is becoming too self-centered, a solution would be for society to
reward service to others - say, parental care of children - and encourage the
pursuit of higher ideals.

I would hope that the study of personal
identity would not lead to increased narcissistic behavior but to communities
of like-minded persons interested in creating a better society. The immediate
challenge is to stop the political and social disintegration afflicting America.